Ousmane Dembélé etched his name into World Cup folklore on Friday, scoring one of the tournament’s earliest hat‑tricks as France cruised to a 4‑1 victory over a second‑string Norway side – with Erling Haaland watching helplessly from the bench.
The Paris Saint‑Germain forward struck in the 7th, 20th and 32nd minutes at Gillette Stadium near Boston, becoming only the second player in World Cup history to complete a treble inside the first half‑hour. The lone predecessor is Erich Probst, who netted three times within the opening 24 minutes for Austria against Czechoslovakia in 1954.
Norway’s Thelo Aasgaard briefly reduced the deficit, but Dembélé’s third – a curling left‑foot finish – restored the two‑goal cushion before half‑time. Désiré Doué added a fourth in stoppage time to round off a dominant display.
The victory secured nine points from three Group I matches for Les Bleus, who have now scored ten goals in the group stage and advance as section winners. They will remain in the north‑eastern United States for a last‑32 tie against a third‑placed side at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Tuesday.
It was an emotionally charged occasion for the French camp, as head coach Didier Deschamps had returned to France to attend his mother’s funeral. The 14‑year incumbent, who will step down after this tournament, is expected to rejoin the squad on Saturday.
Norway, already assured of qualification following earlier wins over Iraq and Senegal, made ten changes to their starting line‑up – a decision that explains the absence of Haaland, captain Martin Ødegaard and striker Alexander Sørloth. Benfica’s Fredrik Aursnes was the sole survivor from the win over Senegal. The Scandinavians finished second with six points and will face Côte d’Ivoire in Dallas on Tuesday.
France, without the rested William Saliba (back complaint), handed a start to Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix, while Doué, Theo Hernández and Aurélien Tchouaméni returned to the XI. Kylian Mbappé won his 101st cap and now has 16 World Cup goals, but it was his 2018‑winning team‑mate Dembélé who stole the show.
The Ballon d’Or winner has been transformed by PSG coach Luis Enrique’s decision to shift him from the wing into a central role, and his performance here – cutting in from the right with devastating effect – offered a timely reminder that France are far from a one‑man team.
Norway could have halved the deficit early in the second half after Oscar Bobb was fouled by Hernández, but Jørgen Strand Larsen’s weak penalty was comfortably saved by Mike Maignan. That miss proved costly as Doué’s late header sealed the emphatic scoreline.
Dembélé’s treble – three goals in 25 first‑half minutes – was not the fastest in World Cup history (that honour belongs to Hungary’s László Kiss, who needed under eight minutes in 1982), but it places him alongside French greats Just Fontaine (twice in 1958) and Mbappé (2022 final) as the only Frenchmen to score a World Cup hat‑trick.
With momentum building and Deschamps set to return, France look every inch a side capable of going the distance.
AFP